Dry Dredgers Member Activites: A Fossil Blog

My first post is about a field trip I made to my favorite old fossil ditch while I was visiting family in Summerville, SC this past Christmas. The site is a flood control ditch in my old neighborhood, and is a site I have collected nearly continuously for 30+ years. Though only 6-8 feet deep, the ditch exposes 3 different formations. The lowermost unit is the late Oligocene Ashley formation (ca: 29 Ma); overlying the Ashley is the later Oligocene Chandler Bridge formation (ca: 28 Ma); overlying the Chandler Bridge is the late Pleistocene Wando formation (ca: 100,000 years). In the Charleston area, all of the other strata between the Oligocene and Pleistocene (with just a very few exceptions) were stripped away by Pleistocene seas; though we do find mixed Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene fossils in some lag deposits in the area. The Oligocene strata are all marine origin. The Chandler Bridge (first described in 1982) has yielded some of the finest shark, whale, turtle, crocodilian, sea cow, and marine bird fossils in North America. The preservation of the Chandler Bridge specimens is amazing, and allows researchers to describe the fine detail of the numerous Oligocene whale skulls so far discovered, and add to the knowledge of this late group of mammals.

The ditch with fossils eroding out of the banks.

Graceyn screening the creek bed for fossils.

Most of these fossils are from the Chandler Bridge. In the center is a tooth from a newly described Squalodontoid whale. I have several skull caps and other skeletal elements on deposit from this and other new Oligocene whales in the Charleston Museum. Also from the CBr are some teeth from the barracuda, Sphyraena; some stingray mouth plate elements; and the tip of a billfish rostrum. The sharks’ teeth include, thresher, hammerhead, tiger, Hemipristis, and a rare tooth from the reef shark Carcharoides.

The larger tooth in this picture is about a 2” extinct mako from the Wando formation (reworked).

2016-12-26 Irongate Ditch Field Trip.

Also, on this trip, I found 2 smallish (2-3 inches) Carcharoclesmegalodon and 1 C.angustidens, the ancestral (?) Great White sharks. I gave these to my fossiling partner that day (my 9 year old niece), so I don’t have pix of them. I did include a couple of pix of some others from previous trips. These are the teeth that people come from all over the world to SC to find in sizes up to 7”.

Carcharocles megalodon 6.12”

Carcharocles megalodon 5.1”

Carcharocles angustidens

Carcharodon carcharias

Next post I will include a few more pix of the whale material we find in the Chandler Bridge. Sammy

Sammy Peek

Welcome to my blog. I joined the Dry Dredgers soon after moving to Pickerington, Ohio from coastal South Carolina in 2014. I am a past member of the Summerville (SC) Fossil Club, The Paleontological Research Institute and the South Carolina Shell Club. I worked for 15 years as a volunteer in the fossil and seashell collections of the Charleston Museum. I am a certified PADI Divemaster, and have collected quite a bit in the black water rivers of the South Carolina low-country. I also have a pretty nice collection of land and quarry collected fossils (primarily Pleistocene, Pliocene and Oligocene age) from all around SC, NC and FL. My main interests are invertebrates, but I collect just about everything. I have really enjoyed visiting some of the fossil sites in southwest OH and southeast IN for their Brachiopods, Mollusks, Corals, Bryozoa, and the occasional Trilobites and Crinoids. I will be sharing pictures and stories of the fossils I have collected in South Carolina as well as my new discoveries here in OH.

45 thoughts on “Fossil Hunting in Summerville, SC: Part 1”

Hello. I just read your article about fossil hunting in Summerville sc. I decided to take a spontaneous trip here for a couple days and found out it is harder than I thought finding a decent spot to hunt. I was wondering if you had any advice or could help in any way? Any help is much appreciated. Thank you

I want to go fossil hunting in the Summerville and/or surrounding areas. Im retired and am looking for a new task and purpose. Im available most days. If interested in showing me around please email me at counts58@gmail.com.

Hi Sammy…we are leaving for SC Monday. Will be there till Fri morning. We both are volunteers at the Smithsonian in Paleo under Dave Bohaska and Bob Purdy. We are hoping to collect Tues and Wed. We know some mines are closed…so Dave told us Summerville is a good place to start. We collected at Edisto years sgo, not good then…maybe wrong locale..so can you give us precise sites to collect around Summerville? Our email nmnhmin@gmail.com

I will be passing through Summerville next week Wednesday and would love to hunt before going back to Florida. Any locations to start would be greatly appreciated as I have never been to Summerville. Email me at Fossil.tooth.hunter@outlook.com if you wouldn’t mind helping out with any basic information. It’s greatly appreciated.

Hi. Loved your article. I imagine you and your Brice had a fantastic time. I Just moved to the summerville area. I’ve had some decent luck in west Ashley but I’ve yet to get my feet wet in the summerville area. I’ll check out behind the Y. Any other areas you might recommend? Thanks in advance.

I am taking my daughter and niece for a one night trip to Charleston next Friday. She is fascinated by sharks and loves looking for sharks teeth. We would love to take her to some of the non beach locations to look for bigger teeth. Any suggestions? Do you know of anyone who would be willing to do a paid guided trip for us? Thanks.

I recently got my daughter hooked on shark tooth hunting. We typically do most of our hunting on Hilton Head Island, but have always wanted to look for Megalodon teeth. We live in the Columbia area and are planning a day trip to the Summerville area. Could you please give us a couple tips on where to look? We would greatly appreciate any help we can get. Thanks!

Hello
I’m also from Columbia, Lexington actually
Did you ever find a place in Summerville for sharks teeth? Planning to go find a few teeth there myself in the next few days but need a place to go. I know nothing about Summerville. Any help is appreciated.
Troy

Hi Sammy.
My daughter, niece and I are headed to Summerville in a couple of weeks to do some shark tooth hunting. This is a hobby I started with my father when I was younger and now that he has passed my daughter and I have carried on the tradition. We have found hundreds of teeth on the SC beaches, but never anything of real significance. My niece is coming to visit from up North and she is obsessed with sharks teeth, but has never found one. She recently lost her father to cancer and has been really struggling lately. I would love to introduce her to the hobby and any tips or locations would be greatly appreciated. My email is anclandis@yahoo.com. Thanks and happy hunting! Chris

We went to ditch behind the YMCA baseball fields, just as Sammy said, and found a bunch of shark teeth in the creek! We met a lovely lady who gave us some tips and spent a great couple of hours finding teeth, a few vertebrae and sting ray mouth plates. We literally just passed through, as we were on our way to NC, and it was well worth the side trip. Among my finds were two shark teeth that were almost and inch long and beautifully preserved, and even my 4 and 7 year old kids were able to find teeth by simply picking up the gravel and poking through it. Wear water shoes if you go, as the creek bottom is full of glass pieces!!

Great site and full of information. I spent all night reading the various articles. I didn’t realize Ohio also has some great fossil hunting areas. Last year I watched youtube videos on shark tooth hunting in SC and some from blackriverfossils. That got me interested and we stopped by the sands in Port Royal on our way to Hilton Head. We finally found our first sharks tooth! However, it wasn’t an easy area to search. We will be driving thru Summerville to Johns Island soon and hoping to search again and find something a little larger. That seems more fun than sitting on the beach right? 🙂 If anyone has suggestions on places to search please let me know. Or if any of the limestone quarries allow searching. Thanks robertinohio@gmail.com

Hi Sammy,
I am new to SC but have become addicted to looking for shark teeth on the beach. I would love to find a megalodon!! Would you be willing to give me some info as to where to look? I don’t have access to a boat. I can be reached at dennidem@gmail.com.
Thanks a bunch!
Denni

I went to google maps and could not find a YMCA off of it. I traced the whole road. You wouldnt happen to have an address would you?My daughter and I will be heading there on the 22nd this month and would love some help. Please email me at copman612@yahoo.com
Thanks!

I think the one everyone is talking about is the one across for Fort Dorchester. Last time I was there it seemed like it was filled in quite a bit with sand. Not sure if from flooding or what. But it has great teeth there.

Hi Sammy
I am from WVand my daughter is studying to become a paleontologist and we are heading to Edist March 14. We have went on several tours but would like to try ourselves. We would love to meet you and talk to you on some areas she can look for fossils. She has applied for on internship at the Carrnagie science Center in Pittsburgh Pa for the summer and needs some experience. Please let me know if you are available to meet or if you could give some suggestions where to look we would be will to travel and hour or so from Edisto. I just want to make sure that if we go to Summerville we can look because I have directions to where the guy took us at a country club but I see where you aren’t suppose to dig and sift and he gave us those to use so I want to make sure if we go there that we are informed how to look correctly so no one gets in thromboembolism. Thanks for your time.
Carol

We can come either on Friday March 16 or Sat March 17 but it is up to you if you would have time because it is kinda short notice but we are free either day as of right now so if you want we could make plans to meet either day. But if you are not free we will be back to Edisto on July 6-13 also. Eventually when my kids are done with college I want to move down to the area because it is no place like I have ever been especially the people. Everyone I meet is so nice and pleasant. Thanks. If you would like I can email you my # or we can make plans on here.
Thanks again for the fast response!
Carol

Hi Sammy, me and my father would like to go find sharks’ teeth but have not had much luck. We have a ditch right behind our house that we have tried but have had no luck. I’m not sure if you know of any good spots that you wouldn’t mind sharing. We live in Goose Creek but are willing to travel a little thank you so much no matter what and I would like to say that if you have any tips for finding them that would be amazing. Thank you!

Hi Sammy! We are coming the Summerville on Monday. We have never found shark teeth and signed up for an excursion at Folly Beach. However, my 10 yr old and I keep watching vids of people finding Megalodon teeth in Summerville. Where can we hunt in Summerville for Meg teeth? This is our first time. So we are pretty green to the hobby. Sincere thanks,

saw a video of blackriverfossils (a youtube channel who collects shark teeth) and he found some megalodon teeth!!! somewhere in summerville and i want to know where is will send the video self too https://youtu.be/pONxQp9tKl8?t=1s do you know where this is? oh and sorry for my bad english i am from the Netherlands and i am obsessed about fossil shark teeth

My Wife and I are planning a motorcycle trip to South Carolina in about one month. We are planning to stop in the Summerville, S.C. area for a few days and do some shark teeth hunting. I have already applied for a Hobby Diver License permit from the University of South Carolina Institute of Archaeology & Anthropology to fossil hunt in SC. In addition, the Institute further advised I should contact the City of Summerville for any additional permits and/or possible city violation codes relevant to removing shark teeth within the city limits of Summerville. The shark teeth hunting I will be conducting is for my personal collection only and will not be sold. The shark teeth here in Texas are small, usually 3/4″ to 1″. In turn, I am hoping to find some larger teeth in the Summerville and South Carolina (Charleston/Myrtle Beach) coastline areas. My bucket list wish is to find a large megalodon tooth in the 4 1/2 to 5″ range; however, I will consider our hunt a success if we can find some smaller teeth in the 2 to 2 1/2″ range. If you are aware of or would recommend any individuals or businesses, in the Summerville area, who, for a fee, will take individuals to areas less searched, I would appreciate their names for contact. Thank you, Allen Squyres, Forney, Texas (near Dallas, Tx)

Do you do paid excursions?? I have done this a couple of times in Summerville several years ago with my children……I have two grand children ages 9 and 12 that I would love to do this with. I will have them with me the week of July 9 though July 13. I know that you can get in serious trouble hunting in areas and using certain equipment for digging….so I want to make sure to do it through the proper channels.

Hi Patricia. I do not lead paid excursions, but there are others who do (google “fossil excursions in Summerville, SC”). Summerville has become extremely over developed and the megs are getting harder and harder to find. There are still plenty of sharks teeth to be found in Summerville (see my posts about the YMCA ditch in Summmervile). And it is very true that “digging” with any “tools” has been outlawed in the town of Summerville. however, you can still walk the ditches and pick up the teeth that are exposed there. Sammy

We are currently visiting friends here in Summerville and went hunting for shark teeth yesterday for the first time. We all loved it! What I really found fascinating is that I see you currently live in Pickerington, OH and that’s where we live! We moved there in 2015.

Today I took my 3 kiddos and some friends to the location behind the Y. We had a great time and found a bunch of wonderful treasures. My family is coming to town next week, 10 kids total and they are a dying to go. We only have access to one boat so need to find some where we can go by land. Is there any other fun spots in Summerville? So much glass by the Y and hoping for bigger teeth. If you could please email me any suggestions I would appreciate it! I have been watching the YouTube videos from the black river fossils but I don’t believe he shares his spots. Please email me atadriennegriffin@hotmail.com

Hi Sammy, Me and my father are looking for good locations to find some teeth. We recently have found a new love for them and are interested in finding some. We have a ditch behind our house but have had no luck. We are not sure if it’s the fact that we don’t know what to look for, or if it’s a bad location. We live in the goose creek area but are wanting to find a spot that will hopefully show us some luck. I was wondering if you would be kind enough to share a location or two to try. If not that is fine. We were just looking for help. Thank you. Please contact me at ldbroadhead@hotmail.com or jmbighead@aol.com.

I use to collect Summerville in my childhood during the 80’s and 90’s. A lot has changed. I live in San Francisco now and the pickings in the surrounding area are not great. I am visiting this weekend for my mother’s 69th birthday and would love to take her to a decent site. We use to enjoy collecting together long ago. I am more than willing to share my old sites with you for something a bit more recent, but they are certainly not what they use to be. Please let me know if you have anything still collectable. Finding even a few nice small teeth would be great. We are hitting Edisto, but you can’t beat the colors on Summerville teeth. Driving to surrounding areas is also fine.

Hi Sammy, My father and i would like to thank you for pointing us in a direction to begin looking in summerville. was only behind the YMCA for maybe two hours when i came apon a creek connecting to the canal. Took a walk up it curious at the gray yellow formation the creek had cut into. Found a few nice hemis in the canal alone with a shark vert. My dad found a few nice teeth in canal as well. During my walk of up that stream i happened to look down and low and behold there in the graval bed i found what iv always been looking for. Between summerville and cherry grove and myrtle beach i can say i came away with quite a few nice teeth. Im from kansas and my kids and i will be making a trip once a year now. I must say the shark teeth in SC are much nicer than the ones we have here. Id love to show you some of my finds so heres my email if your interested. Hegglin70@gmail.com

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